Coconut oil is an amazing beauty treatment; it's antiseptic, antibacterial and apparently does a pretty good job at healing skin. It's extremely nourishing and on top of that costs pennies- if you're not already using it in your routine then why not?! There's more to the nifty coconut than using it to drink cocktails out of on the beach, here are five ways you can use the oil in your beauty regime.

Coconut oil is a fantastic hair moisturiser, as unlike other types of oils it's able to penetrate the shaft of the hair (as opposed to just sitting on the surface). Slick the melted oil over your hair, and leave it overnight or even up to a whole day if you're just in the house and not doing anything. It does look incredibly greasy while it's in, but washes out easily and leaves you with super smooth and soft hair. Apparently it can also stimulate hair growth by getting deep into the follicles so can help to grow healthy hair as well as protect existing strands. 

In the same way that coconut oil is moisturising for the hair, it's also good for the skin. Most hair oils are, but unlike products like Argan oil this is really cheap so you don't have to worry about spending a fortune. You can even 'wash' your face with coconut oil- since 'like dissolves like' once of the best way to remove excess oils from the skin is with an oil based product. Washing your face with coconut oil involves rubbing it onto the skin and removing it with a damp washcloth, any excess then absorbs leaving the skin moisturised. You can also apply coconut oil to the body too, it's especially good for dry areas like feet, elbows and knees.

Do you neglect to moisturise your nails? They can absorb moisturiser much like skin, and coconut oil is a great inexpensive product for the nails and cuticles. Massaging a product like coconut oil into the cuticles will stop hang nails, make the skin surrounding the nails softer and make your nails stronger. 

There are a lot of health benefits to using coconut oil in cooking, it can be used in the place of other oils and doesn't make the food taste like coconut. Some of the health benefits include improved digestion, increased immunity against disease and even helps with weight loss. NOTE only eat virgin/ unprocessed coconut oil, some are only designed for beauty purposes and will contain chemicals not suitable for ingesting.